Why are some teams always in playoff contention

[shasta519]

7 minutes ago, ColtStrong2013 said:

“Shane we need to inform you that we’ve fired Chris Ballard.” -Jim Irsay 

 

“what? Why?” - Shane 

 

“it’s time to move on.” -irsay

 

”Mr. Irsay, Chris hired me, you let him handle that entire process remember?” 
 

“yeah it doesn’t matter now. We’ll be naming a gm soon.” - Irsay
 

“I don’t know what to say. Chris and I were aligned on what the goals were going forward. We were close to exceeding every expectation with minshew, which wasn’t the plan as you know.” -Shane 

 

“listen, @shasta519, @OLD FAN MAN , turtle man @PRnum1, and the gang on the colts forum wanted him gone… and he’s gone so it’s time to move on Shane…” - Irsay 

 

“The colts forum, are you kidding me?” 

 

“no Shane… they know football. Let me tell you. turtleman not only didn’t want us to NOT pick cj stroud or Anthony, he didn’t want us to pick anyone at all last draft. I think he’s brilliant. I’m actually thinking about naming him assistant co-owner.” 

You play out this dialogue with sock puppets? You probably even use your Ballard sock puppet for other purposes too, but I am not one to judge. 
 

Ballard and Reich were aligned too…as are every GM and HC. Because the goal (beyond printing money for owners) is to win playoff games and get to a SB. Ballard has not proven capable of doing that as a GM. Every bit of criticism about his lack of success is fair. 

 

But he’s held to some weird double standard…where a 4-12-1 record doesn’t get him fired…and a 9-8 record gets him celebrated. 
 

It came down to having to just win 2/3 games to make the playoffs, and a Ballard team couldn’t get it done…again. Same as 2021. Different QB, different HC…same results. 

 

I have no clue what Ballard has done to earn such devotion from you and others, who seem compelled to white knight for him. 

[ColtStrong2013]

10 minutes ago, shasta519 said:

You play out this dialogue with sock puppets? You probably even use your Ballard sock puppet for other purposes too, but I am not one to judge. 
 

Ballard and Reich were aligned too…as are every GM and HC. Because the goal (beyond printing money for owners) is to win playoff games and get to a SB. Ballard has not proven capable of doing that as a GM. Every bit of criticism about his lack of success is fair. 

 

But he’s held to some weird double standard…where a 4-12-1 record doesn’t get him fired…and a 9-8 record gets him celebrated. 
 

It came down to having to just win 2/3 games to make the playoffs, and a Ballard team couldn’t get it done…again. Same as 2021. Different QB, different HC…same results. 

 

I have no clue what Ballard has done to earn such devotion from you and others, who seem compelled to white knight for him. 

 

Anyone with a brain can realize the qb play is the difference between being on the edge of the playoffs and actually getting there. We win 11 games with a more competent qb in 2021 (remember we had a league-leading probowl nominated roster that year).  We nearly won the division with Gardner. Minshew. at qb and half this forum won't even appreciate that fact. All anyone does on here is bash Ballard while praising CJ Stroud. And I get it to an extent. CJ's a hell of a football player, and it may very well be always a "What-if" situation for us regarding him. I went and looked at the poll from April that started circulating, and while I didn't participate for some reason, I like many, thought CJ was likely the best candidate, I just didn't think we would get him. I'm pretty high on Richardson's potential, and I'm of course concerned about injuries. What team isn't concerned about losing their franchise qb. This one especially is, or should be, considering we ruined the greatest young qb in the history of the game. But AR was Ballard's pick. The Irsay's were patient enough to give him that opportunity, one of which we will never know the true behind the scenes reason it took this long, although I have my beliefs and it's more to do with Irsay/Reich than it ever was Ballard. I can understand the frustration of his record up to this point. I can understand his frustration too. As miserable as it has been for us as fans, can you imagine how he feels? 

I "white-knight" for him because I feel that not defending him on things that are logical, like having a qb issue (there's a lot of teams that do and haven't been near as successful, even with multiple tries at top 5 qb picks) is not supporting him. And the fact is, he's our GM. He's going to continue to be, regardless of how big of a fit you people throw on this forum. Or how many articles Greg Doyle writes that no one reads because the Indy Star sold out like every other newspaper. I support him because I like the guy, genuinely like him. And I'm not alone in that. By all accounts, everyone that works with him and that has worked with him do too. Can't say that for our last GM. Total * that ruined a generational qb. All I ever see on here is stanning over his record like he accomplished anything. He accomplished selecting the easiest draft pick in the world in Andrew Luck, and then doing nothing while this franchise rode his back for several years. I didn't blame him for retiring. I would have quit a long time before he did.

 

I'm an eternal optimist, to a fault. I'm very optimistic about a young, black super-stud athlete at Quarterback for this team, after everything this franchise has been through over the last decade. I think there is some really strong talent across the roster. Are there holes? obviously. Every team has them. The team's that hide them better than we have are the ones that are getting consistent qb play, and it makes all the difference. CJ Stroud is showing it... I'm hopeful Ballard grows as a GM. Just like you would hope your coach learns from mistakes early in his career and doesn't continue making them like Pagano and Reich did. I hope Steichen works wonders. 

As long as Chris Ballard's our GM, I am going to support him, and hope for his success. I don't have a timetable for that support. A lot of folks on here lost it a long time ago it seems. And I don't blame anyone, necessarily. It's just not the type of fan I'm going to be.

[ColtStrong2013]

@shasta519

I don't expect you to read that post. Considering you just said you think I jerk off in a Ballard sock puppet. And I'm not sure you can actually read comprehensively. But you should try...

[OLD FAN MAN]

10 minutes ago, ColtStrong2013 said:

 

Anyone with a brain can realize the qb play is the difference between being on the edge of the playoffs and actually getting there. We win 11 games with a more competent qb in 2021 (remember we had a league-leading probowl nominated roster that year).  We nearly won the division with Gardner. Minshew. at qb and half this forum won't even appreciate that fact. All anyone does on here is bash Ballard while praising CJ Stroud. And I get it to an extent. CJ's a hell of a football player, and it may very well be always a "What-if" situation for us regarding him. I went and looked at the poll from April that started circulating, and while I didn't participate for some reason, I like many, thought CJ was likely the best candidate, I just didn't think we would get him. I'm pretty high on Richardson's potential, and I'm of course concerned about injuries. What team isn't concerned about losing their franchise qb. This one especially is, or should be, considering we ruined the greatest young qb in the history of the game. But AR was Ballard's pick. The Irsay's were patient enough to give him that opportunity, one of which we will never know the true behind the scenes reason it took this long, although I have my beliefs and it's more to do with Irsay/Reich than it ever was Ballard. I can understand the frustration of his record up to this point. I can understand his frustration too. As miserable as it has been for us as fans, can you imagine how he feels? 

I "white-knight" for him because I feel that not defending him on things that are logical, like having a qb issue (there's a lot of teams that do and haven't been near as successful, even with multiple tries at top 5 qb picks) is not supporting him. And the fact is, he's our GM. He's going to continue to be, regardless of how big of a fit you people throw on this forum. Or how many articles Greg Doyle writes that no one reads because the Indy Star sold out like every other newspaper. I support him because I like the guy, genuinely like him. And I'm not alone in that. By all accounts, everyone that works with him and that has worked with him do too. Can't say that for our last GM. Total * that ruined a generational qb. All I ever see on here is stanning over his record like he accomplished anything. He accomplished selecting the easiest draft pick in the world in Andrew Luck, and then doing nothing while this franchise rode his back for several years. I didn't blame him for retiring. I would have quit a long time before he did.

 

I'm an eternal optimist, to a fault. I'm very optimistic about a young, black super-stud athlete at Quarterback for this team, after everything this franchise has been through over the last decade. I think there is some really strong talent across the roster. Are there holes? obviously. Every team has them. The team's that hide them better than we have are the ones that are getting consistent qb play, and it makes all the difference. CJ Stroud is showing it... I'm hopeful Ballard grows as a GM. Just like you would hope your coach learns from mistakes early in his career and doesn't continue making them like Pagano and Reich did. I hope Steichen works wonders. 

As long as Chris Ballard's our GM, I am going to support him, and hope for his success. I don't have a timetable for that support. A lot of folks on here lost it a long time ago it seems. And I don't blame anyone, necessarily. It's just not the type of fan I'm going to be.

i have respect for the way you feel but i feel differently about ballard. you said that qb play is what it takes to make the playoffs. i agree with that, i started losing faith in ballard in the 2020 draft when burrow, hurts, herbert, tua, and love were all available. ballard got eason in that draft. i too think ar can be good but we should have had a qb before now.

[CoachLite]

4 hours ago, ColtStrong2013 said:

 

If you are stating that favoring disposing of Pagano and Reich more quickly, then I would suppose Jim Irsay would argue that he learned being patient and keeping the emotional stuff out of professional decisions was from the way his father ran things, which was on the opposite end of the spectrum.

The pendulum swung too far in the opposite direction. These are not emotional decisions either way, but objective decisions based on metrics from the rubric. Those of us in business do "what-if" comparisons (OK, competitions) between alternative scenarios. We do correlation analysis to see what metrics give us the biggest bang for the buck given various contexts. Boring stuff, but there are times when it shows us how wrong our gut feelings can be.

 

Or, we can keep on being a .500 team, missing the playoffs year after year, and wasting the talent of our players. Are you happy with the performance of Reich and Pagano? Even when Luck was winning? 

[ColtStrong2013]

2 minutes ago, OLD FAN MAN said:

i have respect for the way you feel but i feel differently about ballard. you said that qb play is what it takes to make the playoffs. i agree with that, i started losing faith in ballard in the 2020 draft when burrow, hurts, herbert, tua, and love were all available. ballard got eason in that draft. i too think ar can be good but we should have had a qb before now.

 

I don't disagree at qb. And I would say that he probably would agree with you, in hindsight. At the time, they had Phil Rivers coming in on what they all thought would be 2 years. It was probably the right time to make that move. Dodds scouted Herbert pretty hard and they ended up trading for Buckner. I really liked the idea of Jordan Love, and in hindsight, he could have worked out sitting for a year behind Rivers and then taking his lumps for the 2021 and 2022 seasons, which were miserable anyways. But that's all in hindsight, so it doesn't do much good discussing the what-if. What if Ty Goodson caught that ball, and we beat Houston and are still in the playoffs right now? See- I just don't like playing that game. It's not living in reality. We have our qb. We need to get him healthy and throwing again. We need to protect him and help him protect himself. And we need to be aggressive in putting weapons around him/shoring up the defensive side of the ball. Next year is a big year for the Indianapolis Colts. I won't sugarcoat it more than it needs to be said. 

[ColtStrong2013]

5 minutes ago, CoachLite said:

Are you happy with the performance of Reich and Pagano? Even when Luck was winning? 

 

No. I wasn't. I was only happy with the performance of Andrew Luck. 

 

I get what you are saying. I also think it could be a big reason Ballard's been given a second chance by Irsay. He might have wanted Frank to be a short term makeshift deal, but he had a good 2018 run and then Irsay tied him up with him for too long. We don't know that it was Ballard's decision to keep him that long, just like we don't know that it was Ballard making the decisions on qb's. I think the fact that he's been given a second chance, and this time Irsay stepped out of the picture and let him entirely conduct the coaching search/decision as well as draft the qb speaks volumes.

[NewColtsFan]

1 hour ago, shasta519 said:

You play out this dialogue with sock puppets? You probably even use your Ballard sock puppet for other purposes too, but I am not one to judge. 
 

Ballard and Reich were aligned too…as are every GM and HC. Because the goal (beyond printing money for owners) is to win playoff games and get to a SB. Ballard has not proven capable of doing that as a GM. Every bit of criticism about his lack of success is fair. 

 

But he’s held to some weird double standard…where a 4-12-1 record doesn’t get him fired…and a 9-8 record gets him celebrated. 
 

It came down to having to just win 2/3 games to make the playoffs, and a Ballard team couldn’t get it done…again. Same as 2021. Different QB, different HC…same results. 

 

I have no clue what Ballard has done to earn such devotion from you and others, who seem compelled to white knight for him. 

I’ve shared this story recently but it’s worth repeating.    At about the midway point of the season PFF put out a ranking of GMs.  They ranked Ballard 14th.   I don’t think anyone here complained.  No Ballard supporter said he was top-5, or even top-10.   I’m as big a Ballard supporter as there is here, and I called it fair and not unreasonable.  
 

So it seems you’re upset that there isn’t an outpouring of complaints, you want more posters screaming for Ballard’s head.   You see this year as a down year because the Colts didn’t beat Houston.  You don’t see this as a great year because we nearly reached the playoffs using our backup QB for about 75 percent of the season.  
 

I just don’t see any White Knighting going on.   Ballard is tied to AR and so he likely has 2-3 years to show what he can become.   If he doesn’t pan out, Ballard is done.  But if AR becomes the QB most want him to be, then Ballard will be safe. 
 

I think you’ve dramatically over-stated your case. 

[Nesjan3]

6 hours ago, ColtStrong2013 said:

“Shane we need to inform you that we’ve fired Chris Ballard.” -Jim Irsay 

 

“what? Why?” - Shane 

 

“it’s time to move on.” -irsay

 

”Mr. Irsay, Chris hired me, you let him handle that entire process remember?” 
 

“yeah it doesn’t matter now. We’ll be naming a gm soon.” - Irsay
 

“I don’t know what to say. Chris and I were aligned on what the goals were going forward. We were close to exceeding every expectation with minshew, which wasn’t the plan as you know.” -Shane 

 

“listen, @shasta519, @OLD FAN MAN , turtle man @PRnum1, and the gang on the colts forum wanted him gone… and he’s gone so it’s time to move on Shane…” - Irsay 

 

“The colts forum, are you kidding me?” 

 

“no Shane… they know football. Let me tell you. turtleman not only didn’t want us to NOT pick cj stroud or Anthony, he didn’t want us to pick anyone at all last draft. I think he’s brilliant. I’m actually thinking about naming him assistant co-owner.” 

Post of the year

[2006Coltsbestever]

Funny thing is, to the people that want Ballard gone, nobody can come up with anyone better to replace him. To those people, give me your guy and I will gladly reply.

[Chrisaaron1023]

It makes me feel crazy to think, we haven't had a home playoff game in 10 years.. it doesn't feel like it's been that long. I guess I must be getting old..

[Yoshinator]

3 hours ago, 2006Coltsbestever said:

Funny thing is, to the people that want Ballard gone, nobody can come up with anyone better to replace him. To those people, give me your guy and I will gladly reply.

I think people aren't as privy to GM candidates as they aren't as well-known and info about them before they become GMs isn't out there as much. You really have to search for it. It's more hush-hush. Even if you know the names of assistant GMs and Directors of College Scouting, you may not know what they contributed to the team they were on. 

[Dingus McGirt]

57 minutes ago, Chrisaaron1023 said:

It makes me feel crazy to think, we haven't had a home playoff game in 10 years.. it doesn't feel like it's been that long. I guess I must be getting old..

I KNOW i am.

[2006Coltsbestever]

19 minutes ago, Yoshinator said:

I think people aren't as privy to GM candidates as they aren't as well-known and info about them before they become GMs isn't out there as much. You really have to search for it. It's more hush-hush. Even if you know the names of assistant GMs and Directors of College Scouting, you may not know what they contributed to the team they were on. 

If people don't have the NFL knowledge to answer my question, then complaining about Ballard looks really bad. If I want someone replaced, I would have an answer to who I want. I seen you said Dodds, that makes little sense because he is one of Ballard’s guys. I honestly think someone like Troy Aikman would be a great GM and his name alone would bring in free agents. Troy is extremely football smart and is young, with 3 SB wins playing QB.

[Yoshinator]

Just now, 2006Coltsbestever said:

If people don't have the NFL knowledge to answer my question, then complaining about Ballard looks really bad. If I want someone replaced, I would have an answer to who I want. I seen you said Dodds, that makes little sense because he is one of Ballard’s guys. I honestly think someone like Troy Aikman would be a great GM and his name alone would bring in free agents. Troy is extremely football smart and is young, with 3 SB wins playing QB.

It doesn't make people look bad. You don't have to be an expert to see something is wrong. This team is being run poorly. It may be harder to break down why. I don't need to be a chef to know a meal is cooked poorly, I don't need to be a movie director to know when I see a bad movie. I can look at the GM candidates and do some research and give you a better answer. It's just not widely available to the public as much. 

 

I doubt Troy has much GM experience, if any. It takes training to be a GM. You usually have to be a scout first, and work your way up through the ranks. Elway became a GM with limited experience, and he was a terrible drafter. He only won a SB because he was able to convince Manning to come to Denver on a team he took over that was already good with a great FA class. Aikman would struggle. Though I agree he would bring in FAs.

 

 

[Yoshinator]

8 minutes ago, 2006Coltsbestever said:

If people don't have the NFL knowledge to answer my question, then complaining about Ballard looks really bad. If I want someone replaced, I would have an answer to who I want. I seen you said Dodds, that makes little sense because he is one of Ballard’s guys. I honestly think someone like Troy Aikman would be a great GM and his name alone would bring in free agents. Troy is extremely football smart and is young, with 3 SB wins playing QB.

Also, to answer your question, I'd get Mike Borgonzi, the assistant GM of the Chiefs, or Alec Halaby, the assistant GM of the Eagles. Those teams are being run well and bringing in good players, and I'd like to have an assistant GM from one of those teams be our GM.

[2006Coltsbestever]

52 minutes ago, Yoshinator said:

Also, to answer your question, I'd get Mike Borgonzi, the assistant GM of the Chiefs, or Alec Halaby, the assistant GM of the Eagles. Those teams are being run well and bringing in good players, and I'd like to have an assistant GM from one of those teams be our GM.

I threw someone out there like Troy because he is linked to Jimmy Johnson who was one of the best at drafting. Jimmy was raw coming into the NFL as a coach and an NFL evaluator, Troy played under him. My post is called thinking outside the box and someone that is a big name that has extreme football knowledge. If I am getting rid of Ballard, I am not getting rid of him for some no name. 

[Solid84]

5 hours ago, 2006Coltsbestever said:

Funny thing is, to the people that want Ballard gone, nobody can come up with anyone better to replace him. To those people, give me your guy and I will gladly reply.

I don't think many people - whether they want Ballard to stay or not - can think of many if any candidates at all. GM is not like HC where we see the results of their coaching at other levels and judge based on that whether they can be a HC or not. As fans we don't get to see or hear what happens behind closed doors, so the things that make a person a candidate for a GM spot is not typically something we would know about.

 

We know about Dodds because other teams have enquired about him several times now and Ballard speaks highly of him. But, beyond that we don't really have a clue.

 

But if we were looking I'd look in the direction of the 49'ers or Ravens to see if they had a good candidate.

 

I don't think Ballard is the guy and I don't think a fear of getting worse than mediocre should stop a team from trying to get better. He's had help making terrible QB decisions from Reich and Irsay - that's not solely on him. But I dislike how he's handled the rest of the roster. It's always one step forward and one step back.

 

Go young on one unit. Let them take their lumps and get better. Next season it's a new unit we go young. New unit the season after that.

 

Dline in '21

Oline in '22

Secondary in '23

 

This always having a big weakspot is not how you build a consistent winner in my opinion.

[2006Coltsbestever]

5 minutes ago, Solid84 said:

I don't think many people - whether they want Ballard to stay or not - can think of many if any candidates at all. GM is not like HC where we see the results of their coaching at other levels and judge based on that whether they can be a HC or not. As fans we don't get to see or hear what happens behind closed doors, so the things that make a person a candidate for a GM spot is not typically something we would know about.

 

We know about Dodds because other teams have enquired about him several times now and Ballard speaks highly of him. But, beyond that we don't really have a clue.

 

But if we were looking I'd look in the direction of the 49'ers or Ravens to see if they had a good candidate.

 

I don't think Ballard is the guy and I don't think a fear of getting worse than mediocre should stop a team from trying to get better. He's had help making terrible QB decisions from Reich and Irsay - that's not solely on him. But I dislike how he's handled the rest of the roster. It's always one step forward and one step back.

 

Go young on one unit. Let them take their lumps and get better. Next season it's a new unit we go young. New unit the season after that.

 

Dline in '21

Oline in '22

Secondary in '23

 

This always having a big weakspot is not how you build a consistent winner in my opinion.

I don't have all the answers to everything and don't pretend too but at least I threw out a name like Troy and I don't even want Ballard gone. I have no problem with someone wanting Ballard gone but at least some in here can give me a name that can do better. That is all ask. Maybe MooseJaw can do better  

[ColtStrong2013]

15 minutes ago, Solid84 said:

I don't think Ballard is the guy and I don't think a fear of getting worse than mediocre should stop a team from trying to get better. He's had help making terrible QB decisions from Reich and Irsay - that's not solely on him. But I dislike how he's handled the rest of the roster. It's always one step forward and one step back.

do you know what helps that? Having consistent qb play. It hides a lot of holes, and every team has them. The margin of winning is small, and more often than not can be pointed at the qb play. Houston game is the perfect example of that… 

[KB]

21 minutes ago, Solid84 said:

Go young on one unit. Let them take their lumps and get better. Next season it's a new unit we go young. New unit the season after that.

 

Dline in '21

Oline in '22

Secondary in '23

 

This always having a big weakspot is not how you build a consistent winner in my opinion.

Just to this part, how did we go young on d line in '21, and oline in '22? Just by drafting a cluster of them in those drafts or something else? Both units have maintained their core starters for years.

 

Secondary going young is a league wide trend. These rookies wernt meant to spend alot of time starting this year though. At least with Jones, getting starting reps was due to suspensions and injuries more than anything.

[Solid84]

9 minutes ago, ColtStrong2013 said:

do you know what helps that? Having consistent qb play. It hides a lot of holes, and every team has them. The margin of winning is small, and more often than not can be pointed at the qb play. Houston game is the perfect example of that… 

Absolutely, and it'll probably get us into the playoffs.

 

What it won't do is get us deep into the playoffs. Only the all-round solid teams go all the way and for us to get there Ballard needs to change his approach or get gone.

[Indyfan4life]

Good drafting. Good FA signings. Luck with injuries. 

[Solid84]

9 minutes ago, KB said:

Just to this part, how did we go young on d line in '21, and oline in '22? Just by drafting a cluster of them in those drafts or something else? Both units have maintained their core starters for years.

 

Secondary going young is a league wide trend. These rookies wernt meant to spend alot of time starting this year though. At least with Jones, getting starting reps was due to suspensions and injuries more than anything.

Both units need consistency and when you change half the unit or 40% you change the chemistry.

 

We dumped Houston and Autry for Paye and Dayo.

AC retired and we brought in a gimped LT. The year after we started 2 backups.

[ColtStrong2013]

Just now, Solid84 said:

Absolutely, and it'll probably get us into the playoffs.

 

What it won't do is get us deep into the playoffs. Only the all-round solid teams go all the way and for us to get there Ballard needs to change his approach or get gone.

I’m not sure we really know… I hope to see an aggressive offseason. I would categorize last year as one. Landing a top offensive coaching candidate and pairing him with a top 5 draft pick, super human at qb was a pretty big change in the Ballard tenure. If he steps it up a notch from that this offseason, I don’t see a reason we won’t be competitive. Most of it will ride on Richardson’s health and continued development. 

[2006Coltsbestever]

An Elite QB can make any GM look like a King! Give me Brady, Peyton, Montana, or Mahomes. I could even draft on the average level (not good or great) and still win 11 or 12 games every year. 

[KB]

Just now, Solid84 said:

Both units need consistency and when you change half the unit or 40% you change the chemistry.

 

We dumped Houston and Autry for Paye and Dayo.

AC retired and we brought in a gimped LT. The year after we started 2 backups.

That's normal roster turnover IMO. The best route is to already have an heir waiting for his time, but there's usually other work to do to get the whole roster up to snuff for us. Outside of AC, none of these guys were irreplaceable. Gilmore stung but he wanted out, and I can't blame him after last year.

 

We're gonna have some roster turnover when someone retires. The LT from last year (dont remember his name and im fine if nobody reminds me either lol) was an epic failure but the rookie was there to hold it down. While getting rid of Glowinski for a younger RG didn't work last year, it's worked great this year.

 

Houston and Autry had a decent season but it wasn't anything to wrote home about so I don't know if we could consider it a strength tbh. I liked Autry but he wasn't a world beater by any means. Houston was also old and not the answer.

[2006Coltsbestever]

If you looked at Grigson track record on paper, most would say he was one of the best GM's of all-time. His record proves it at 49-31 + an AFC Title Game appearance.

 

Thing is, he had Andrew Luck the whole time. Then what makes it bad is, he sucked in reality because he failed to put a team around him to win a SB.

[Solid84]

7 minutes ago, KB said:

That's normal roster turnover IMO. The best route is to already have an heir waiting for his time, but there's usually other work to do to get the whole roster up to snuff for us. Outside of AC, none of these guys were irreplaceable. Gilmore stung but he wanted out, and I can't blame him after last year.

 

We're gonna have some roster turnover when someone retires. The LT from last year (dont remember his name and im fine if nobody reminds me either lol) was an epic failure but the rookie was there to hold it down. While getting rid of Glowinski for a younger RG didn't work last year, it's worked great this year.

 

Houston and Autry had a decent season but it wasn't anything to wrote home about so I don't know if we could consider it a strength tbh. I liked Autry but he wasn't a world beater by any means. Houston was also old and not the answer.

You're basically making my point here. 

 

"It didn't work out that year, but the year after it was good"... When we constantly have off years in different units the whole roster never peaks...

 

Houston and Autry were easily 60% of our pass rush... replaced by rookies.

AC retired and was replaced by a gimp and a rookie - which showed.

This season we lacked veteran CBs and it showed.

[KB]

1 minute ago, Solid84 said:

You're basically making my point here. 

 

"It didn't work out that year, but the year after it was good"... When we constantly have off years in different units the whole roster never peaks...

 

Houston and Autry were easily 60% of our pass rush... replaced by rookies.

AC retired and was replaced by a gimp and a rookie - which showed.

This season we lacked veteran CBs and it showed.

I get where its not what we would like to happen, but that's normal roster turnover. That happens with every team in every sport.

 

Houston and Autry were 15.5 out of 40 sacks. Buckner had more than both of them. They were replaceable and should of been. I like Autry alot, but nothing was really lost in the short or long term.

 

ACs replacement should of been on the roster and the experiment didn't work. We would still be going young at the position eventually and would have to take the lumps. At all spots you will have to go young at some point and take the lumps..

 

As of right now, I can't think of a group this year. Only certain positions like FS and slot cb if Moore isn't retained.

[Solid84]

2 minutes ago, KB said:

I get where its not what we would like to happen, but that's normal roster turnover. That happens with every team in every sport.

 

Houston and Autry were 15.5 out of 40 sacks. Buckner had more than both of them. They were replaceable and should of been. I like Autry alot, but nothing was really lost in the short or long term.

 

ACs replacement should of been on the roster and the experiment didn't work. We would still be going young at the position eventually and would have to take the lumps. At all spots you will have to go young at some point and take the lumps..

 

As of right now, I can't think of a group this year. Only certain positions like FS and slot cb if Moore isn't retained.

Houston and Autry were replaceable - with comparable talent. We got less production without them.

 

The handling of AC's retirement is a thing of in it's own right, but the solution Ballard made still got us worse production.

 

One step forward, one step backwards.

 

Depends on what we do this offseason, but it is looking promising for the first time in years.

[DougDew]

12 hours ago, shasta519 said:

But he’s held to some weird double standard…where a 4-12-1 record doesn’t get him fired…and a 9-8 record gets him celebrated. 
 

It came down to having to just win 2/3 games to make the playoffs, and a Ballard team couldn’t get it done…again. Same as 2021. Different QB, different HC…same results. 

 

I have no clue what Ballard has done to earn such devotion from you and others, who seem compelled to white knight for him. 

Well said.

[ColtStrong2013]

20 hours ago, Superman said:

I'd add that it starts with good ownership. Some owners just can't get out of their own way, hire the wrong people, fire the wrong people, play favorites, dominate the process, etc. With good ownership, your GM and HC can thrive, and the football people can find and develop good players. 

 

I understand this to be a sensitive topic with the news of the day: 

But this post was the first thing I thought of this morning... Going into the first drama free offseason in a while, or so we thought.

[2006Coltsbestever]

14 hours ago, shasta519 said:

You play out this dialogue with sock puppets? You probably even use your Ballard sock puppet for other purposes too, but I am not one to judge. 
 

Ballard and Reich were aligned too…as are every GM and HC. Because the goal (beyond printing money for owners) is to win playoff games and get to a SB. Ballard has not proven capable of doing that as a GM. Every bit of criticism about his lack of success is fair. 

 

But he’s held to some weird double standard…where a 4-12-1 record doesn’t get him fired…and a 9-8 record gets him celebrated. 
 

It came down to having to just win 2/3 games to make the playoffs, and a Ballard team couldn’t get it done…again. Same as 2021. Different QB, different HC…same results. 

 

I have no clue what Ballard has done to earn such devotion from you and others, who seem compelled to white knight for him. 

I think it boils down to, to the people that think Ballard is at least an above average GM or even a good one but some in here constantly says he sucks and say he is trash. Then they bring up his record when they know damn good in well, Luck retiring is why his W/L record is what it is. Find me one person in here that has said Ballard is a very good or great GM, you can't because nobody has. I can list you at least 10 people in here that want him gone or have called him trash. Like many, you just don't get it, you think it is ok to call the guy trash but it isn't ok to defend him, on a freakin Colts website of all things. 

 

Me personally, I think Ballard is top 15 in the league, if we fire him, we better find someone that is legit good or it could get worse. Nobody in here is ok with being mediocre either, but many know how hard it is to win without a great QB. When Ballard had Luck and Rivers he was 21-11 and won a Playoff game. 

[ColtStrong2013]

7 minutes ago, 2006Coltsbestever said:

you think it is ok to call the guy trash but it isn't ok to defend him, on a freakin Colts website of all things. 

 

Me personally, I think Ballard is top 15 in the league, if we fire him, we better find someone that is legit good or it could get worse. Nobody in here is ok with being mediocre either, but many know how hard it is to win without a great QB. When Ballard had Luck and Rivers he was 21-11 and won a Playoff game. 

Exactly. It just shows they are incapable of thinking logically. I didn’t agree at the time years back when people were laughing at colts fans because they were spoiled. But man, I do now. These haters on here think can just snap your fingers and win football games like it’s Madden. It’s easy to point out the issues in hindsight, and people are really good at on this forum. But the minute you say anything that is actually logical, like the record of Ballard when he actually had a starting qb out there, they choose to ignore it or double down on the record with backup caliber qb play. 

[2006Coltsbestever]

9 minutes ago, ColtStrong2013 said:

Exactly. It just shows they are incapable of thinking logically. I didn’t agree at the time years back when people were laughing at colts fans because they were spoiled. But man, I do now. These haters on here think can just snap your fingers and win football games like it’s Madden. It’s easy to point out the issues in hindsight, and people are really good at on this forum. But the minute you say anything that is actually logical, like the record of Ballard when he actually had a starting qb out there, they choose to ignore it or double down on the record with backup caliber qb play. 

Anymore when I log in here, I cringe if we lose just 1 game because it becomes a porty potty in here when we lose 1 game. I loved our 4-game winning streak because I knew it would be great in here. Some in here would gripe if we won 8 in a row then lost 1, sad but true. 

[ColtStrong2013]

11 minutes ago, 2006Coltsbestever said:

Anymore when I log in here, I cringe if we lose just 1 game because it becomes a porty potty in here when we lose 1 game. I loved our 4-game winning streak because I knew it would be great in here. Some in here would gripe if we won 8 in a row then lost 1, sad but true. 

 

some people just can’t help but being negative. I left an entire career at a young age from being around toxic negativity all day… and it made my life and bank account much better over time. When I log off here for periods of time, it’s because it’s too negative for my liking. Negative energy is contagious and when it grows, it’s overpowering. 
 

Guaranteed. GUARANTEED those that are frequently negative on this forum live their lives that way. You don’t magically become a positive minded individual when you log off the computer and vice versa.

[DougDew]

7 minutes ago, ColtStrong2013 said:

 

some people just can’t help but being negative. I left an entire career at a young age from being around toxic negativity all day… and it made my life and bank account much better over time. When I log off here for periods of time, it’s because it’s too negative for my liking. Negative energy is contagious and when it grows, it’s overpowering. 
 

Guaranteed. GUARANTEED those that are frequently negative on this forum live their lives that way. You don’t magically become a positive minded individual when you log off the computer and vice versa.

Just a word here, since I probably fall into your negative nancy bucket of forum members.

 

Addressing weaknesses...focusing on the negative...is fundamental to solving problems and improving. Its not a way of life, its a tactic.  Focusing on the negative, and looking for as many negatives as you can find, solves problems. 

 

Its easy for many of us who have careers in problem solving to divorce problem solving thinking when it comes to enjoying personal life.

 

Positive mindedness goes towards helping feelings.  And I hope that folks who have that mindset on internet forums don't also choose to see no problems in their personal lives when there may be plenty.

[2006Coltsbestever]

2 minutes ago, ColtStrong2013 said:

 

some people just can’t help but being negative. I left an entire career at a young age from being around toxic negativity all day… and it made my life and bank account much better over time. When I log off here for periods of time, it’s because it’s too negative for my liking. Negative energy is contagious and when it grows, it’s overpowering. 
 

Guaranteed. GUARANTEED those that are frequently negative on this forum live their lives that way. You don’t magically become a positive minded individual when you log off the computer and vice versa.

I have always been a positive person, so this site tries me a lot at times. This is a great site and I have many friends here that I care about. I would say 75% of people in here are really knowledgeable and can see both sides of everything. It is the other 25% that can ruin a thread or annoy me. 25% can be a lot at times to handle.

 

Let me say this, I have no problem with anyone being critical of the team when we lose or even being critical of Ballard or Irsay, etc.. It is just when they go overboard with it because they are far from the worse combo in the NFL. IMO, The Peyton era spoiled most people, then you get 3 years of Andrew Luck after that which was spectacular. We may never see that again, but people should count their blessings we had that and even won a SB. 

 

For me, once we won in 2006/07, everything has been gravy. We won the SB and beat Tom and BB to do so, beat the Bears as well. One thing everyone has to call the Indianapolis Colts is a World Champion, we got it done in 2006/07. Ask Bills and Vikings fans if they would take at least one and they would die for 1. 2 great franchises that have 0.

[ColtStrong2013]

20 minutes ago, DougDew said:

Just a word here, since I probably fall into your negative nancy bucket of forum members.

 

Addressing weaknesses...focusing on the negative...is fundamental to solving problems and improving. Its not a way of life, its a tactic.  Focusing on the negative, and looking for as many negatives as you can find, solves problems. 

 

Its easy for many of us who have careers in problem solving to divorce problem solving thinking when it comes to enjoying personal life.

 

Positive mindedness goes towards helping feelings.  And I hope that folks who have that mindset on internet forums don't also choose to see no problems in their personal lives when there may be plenty.

 

Not necessarily. I'm not sure you are one that attacks people in a negative manner. I mean- I was literally told last night that I likely jerk off in a Chris Ballard sock puppet... LOL. 

You speak of problem solving as if that is what people do here. (Or even as if we are responsible for solving the problems of our beloved Indianapolis Colts). It's one thing to point out and discuss negative aspects that you might not like, and debate on concepts. It's another thing to post nothing but hate (and the same hate over and over again,) especially from a place of emotion. I would argue that your comments on "positive mindedness goes towards helping feelings" isn't really applied here, but that the opposite is. People seem to take their anger out on this forum to help them feel better that the Colts haven't been in the playoffs much like we were so accustomed to. The positive-minded ones are perhaps the ones that aren't angry about it and look at it from a more logical standpoint.

 

I've worked with some of the personalities on this forum, and as one of my mentors have pointed out, if those individuals were the ones making the major decisions of the company, we'd be in trouble. They'd be firing people on a whim without looking at consequences. They'd be unable to keep staff from turning over. They'd be placing the blame on others on problems they created. Simply put, they'd be dysfunctional as managers. But they all have their opinions on management, that's for sure. 

 

Having a general positive mindset in life and not recognizing problems in one's own life/not solving them are not mutually exclusive. One can recognize issues and choose to apply their positive way of thought to solve the problem, and often in a more efficient manner than the alternative. 

 

I mean, imagine being a negative problem solver with a child, who often has a lot of negative behaviors that need correcting... I can't imagine reacting to my children's poor behavior in anything but a positive way. It's the scientifically proven way to do so.